Sermon Tone Analysis

Matt 5:13

The Purpose of the Church

Every tool has a specific purpose

Not just tools in the garage, but even in the kitchen

Every tool has a purpose

Certain tools can also loose their effectiveness

Pulling spaghetti out with a rubber spatula

Driving a nail with a screwdriver

The Church has a purpose…

to be like salt

to be like light

but for tonight let’s start at the end of our passage because Jesus isn’t just talking about salt, and he not just talking about light

Matt

1.

The purpose of the church is to glorify God through its good works so that others will also glorify God.

Let’s clarify a few things

First listen to what the scripture isn’t saying:

Jesus is not saying that we are saved by our good works…

Scripture is very clear that salvation is a result of grace through faith, not a result of works

Jesus is not talking about the means in order to be saved, rather he is talking about how those who are saved are able to glorify God.

We see this throughout scripture:

First distinction:

We are not saved (justified/made right with God) by our good works.

Rather, God is glorified when those who he has redeemed do good works

Second distinction:

What is the difference between 5:16 and 6:1?

The difference is in the motivation behind doing the good works!

5:16 (the passage that we are looking at tonight)

Is motivated to give the one true God glory and fame among those who do not know him, because has already redeemed us and blessed us with the kingdom (remember the beatitudes from last week)

He has already blessed us… therefore we do good works to glorify him

*notice that the the reward has already been given before we do any good works

Is motivated by receiving glory for one’s self instead of God

It is motivated by others seeing our own self-righteousness instead of seeing and glorifying in God’s loving mercy and power that is able to change the life of those who were once poor in spirit.

* notice that in 6:1 Jesus says they will have no reward from the our Father in heaven… in other words, those who do good works to be seen by others are not those who are counted among those that are blessed that will receive the kingdom of heaven

so...

1.

The purpose of the church is to glorify God through its good works so that others will also glorify God.

Two distinctions:

first, this has nothing to do with receiving salvation and blessing by good works,

and second, this is so God can be glorified not so that we can impress others by our self-righteousness

We see the function of the church being compared two two objects

salt and light

Let’s go back into our text and take these one at a time first let’s look at salt:

We have to ask ourself this: what is the purpose of salt?

in Jesus’ day salt was more than seasoning for your french fries…

Salt was the difference between life and death.

Why?

Because salt was the means by wich people were able to preserve food… It was the ancient refrigerator.

It was used primarily to keep meet from rot and decay

And so Jesus says to his disciples and to us, the church… You are the salt of the earth…

Salt - Preserves that which is passing away

Jesus’ disciples - (that means those of us who are fooling Jesus and are a part of his church) we are God’s plan and purpose by which he is going to save the world from rotting and passing away…

Some may want to argue and say that the church isn’t the means of salvation but Jesus is…

Paul’s point is that they will all pass away unless someone tells them the good news of the gospel!

This is the mission and purpose of the church

Matt 28:

And not just in preaching so that some might be saved, but again it is even through our good works

1 Pet

Remember our good works glorify God, and they contribute to bringing people from death into life.

Salt - Preserves that which is passing away

and light…

Look v 14

Light - reveals that which is hidden

He gives the example of a city on a hill…

Everyone who would have gone to Jerusalem would have known exactly what Jesus was alluding to

For a traveler during Jesus’ day, traveling in the dark would have been dangerous for a number of reasons, but the obvious danger would be getting lost and unable to find one’s way to their destination

But when they were able to see the city on the hill… Jerusalem, they would know exactly where to go

Has anyone ever wandered in the dark without a light?

stub a toe or trip

And so, in a world that is dark and without hope...

wandering but unable to see where they are going...

In a world that is in desperate need of vision to be able to see clearly that which is good and that which is bad…

How much more important is it that they would have light...

and we should know, right?

for we all were once in darkness

And how is it that we are able to walk in the light… because someone told us the gospel.

While God is the one who brings life to that which is dead, it is the Christian who reflected the light of Christ so that we were able to see and believe…

and so...

The church, like salt, is to preserve that which is passing away, and the church, like light, is to illuminate that which is hidden...

but this brings us to a problem.

The next point in your notes:

It is possible for the church to neglect it’s intended purpose:

that of being a preserving and illuminating presence in the world:

Let’s go back into the text:

Matt 5:13

Can salt lose actually lose its saltiness?

after season your food w/ salt… will the salty rich flavor go away?

no…

it can get cold

it can go stale

but the food will never become less salty,

much in the same way that water never loses its moisture…

The only way salt loses its saltiness is if it becomes diluted… ruined by the impurity of other minerals

This would have been more common problem in a day where salt wasn’t purchased from the store and kept in sealed containers…

instead salt had to collected, but often times the salt that was collected would be impure and ruined by the other minerals

Jesus is saying such salt that is defiled is rubbish, common material that isn’t good for anything other than being used as common dirt to make a road

The Christian (and the church for that matter) when we defile ourself with sin… make loose our effectiveness to be salt in the world…

When we are marked by sin, and not by good works and righteousness, we prove ourselves to not be his disciples

Remember

Jn 15:6

If we do not bear fruit (or if we claim to be salt, but lack the flavor of salt) we prove ourself to not be salt at all.

But instead we are no different from the rest of the world